The Beast is Back!

I have finally got the GTO back, and she runs! That GTO shaped hole in my garage is gone, snuggly filled with my baby. I'm a happy boy. 

Always love a fat arse!

I missed the call to pick her up yesterday whilst driving home. I got back with 5 minutes to spare before the garage closed so called them and arranged to pick her up today instead. So last night I couldn't sleep for thinking about her. And I thought of her whilst I was getting ready this morning. And I rather struggled to concentrate at work today, watching the clock ticking down till I could leave and pick her up. 

Back home where she belongs.

Mrs 3oD was kind enough to drop me at the garage to pick it up, but as we set off and headed the 15 miles or so home I decided I couldn't stop. I live up in the hills, with many a fine B road to blast down and having not driven her for 4 months the temptation to go for a little hoon was too high.... I just wanted to drive, and drive, and drive.... 

After a short while, I pulled over, and just had to take some photos of her as the sun was setting. (I even used the big boy camera, not just my phone! Oh so grown up...) 

Not the first I took, but by far my favourite!

In truth, blasting through the countryside made me realise how far I have to go with this car. It highlighted a few issues I had forgotten about from before she was taken off the road in February.

Under heavy braking the steering wheel was shaking uncontrollably in my hand, I have experienced this same feeling before in my Hawkeye when the brake rotas needed replacing through slight warping. This is the reason my next big purchase is planned to be a big brake kit, and I will probably be taking her easy until I get that installed, she still stops fine but I don't want to take any chances. Thankfully she's not a daily so doesn't need to see many miles in that time. 

Another issue is third gear had always been a little hard to find, and with changing the clutch this was much improved, but still not ideal. When I get round to ordering a short shifter I wonna have a look at the selector mechanism because it feels more like that than the box itself, but in all honesty I can see 2017 bringing a gearbox refurbishment. I think I would be kidding myself if I thought anything else, this is a 90's Mitsubishi after all!

The winding mountain roads also made me realise that I should have probably gone for a stage 2 clutch. I warned warned by the manager of the garage how heavy it was before I got in the car, but was still shocked at how much force it took to depress the stage 3. My left leg is gonna be ripped! That is something I will get used to, and the extra torque it can take will hopefully one day be a necessity for the 3 of diamonds!

Find some more of my pics below, I need a bit more practice, but hopefully I'll get there with using that camera soon. 

Check out my last couple of posts:

Still no GTO

Car Porn

If you would like to laugh at my lack of progress in real time you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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BMW 320D M Sport - Review

Ok, so this is my first attempt at a car review, I haven't even tried to review the Abarth or Mitsubishi, so if this attempt is a bit of a fail, or a bit.... well.... crap, let me know in the comments and I'll stay clear of doing this in future!

BMW 320D M Sport

So the other day I got the chance to test drive a BMW 320D M Sport. I was contemplating getting it as a new daily to replace the Abarth. I suppose with it being a BMW, the obvious place to start is with cliches. Yes it had indicators and no it did not make me want to buy a bluetooth headset to scream down. Can I get started properly now? Good. 

So my first serious point does actually take me back to the indicators. I really didn't like them.... 

BMW Indicators, they do exist!

The indicators didn't function like a traditional stalk, rather felt like they were a button which hinged where the stalk gets fat half way along. It didn't feel nice to use, and gave no feeling that the indicator had flicked on, which I'm guessing is why BMW installed the loudest indicating click noise  to go with it, just to let you know that light was flashing, I didn't mind this too much in the first 5 minutes of driving, then it started to get old.... real old, real quick. I began to wonder if that's why BMW drivers just don't use their signals?

Indicators aside it was probably one of the best driving cars I've ever been behind the wheel of (and I've been behind a few). The cars I have owned in the past have all been shouty and angry (yes, even the Abarth when it's in sport mode). This car wasn't. Even in M mode it didn't shout as loud as I expected, but it felt good. It made me feel almost grown-up. Is this a sign I'm getting old?

BMW Drivers POV

 I think part of that, as you can see from the above picture, is the automatic transmission. I have always hated them in the past with a passion. Automatic transmissions were in my eyes, the work of the devil, or worse still, vegans. I'm not actually shamed to say it could potentially convert me (to autos, not vegan-ism). 

This is only actually the second automatic I've driven, the first was a DSG box, and I actually preferred the BMW's full auto box. The first couple of times I pulled away going from first to second was a little jerky until I got used to not having a clutch, then after that the drive was unbelievably smooth. It made me wonder why, when my journey into work was all traffic jams and motorways, didn't I already have an automatic? It just seems to make sense in a daily, especially as the project car is manual to still give me a fix on a weekend for driving a car with a man pedal.

320D M Engine bay

I did a bit of research into the car before the test drive and was surprised to find that it's 0-60 figure was only 7.9 sec. I was actually a little disappointed on the drive to the dealer, questioning whether trading in for a slower car was the right thing to do? Thing is, when driving the car, that figure didn't matter in the slightest. The car felt like it pulled really well and didn't feel that slow. In fact accelerating from 30 to around 60 or 70 I was impressed at how effortless it was. Comparing it to my hawkeye, the Impreza would have made a bigger show of it, louder and more attention grabbing, but if I'm honest, probably not much faster! Which is strange to say given how much faster it would manage 0-60. The BMW just felt like it pulled that well when rolling, and that specific range used for overtaking was where it did it best.

Taking it down some back roads

The car felt very much like it was designed for life in traffic and on the motorways, so I was pleasantly surprised that I seemed to rather enjoy a blast down the country lanes too. Being used to FWD at the moment, stepping into a RWD for the first time in a good couple of years, the car gave me confidence, it had grip for days! It was bone dry, but I got the impression that in the wet it would drop its business-like persona completely and be a totally different animal, a bit like that one mate, who has one pint too many and then gets lairy thinking he can fight the world.

Start stop button and radio.

In terms of finishing touches it didn't have quite as many as I expected from a German saloon. The start stop button was fun (yes, still a child at heart) but the radio was just, well.... normal!? The car was a couple of years old, but only a couple, so I kind of assumed there would be a screen or something, but alas not.  I suppose they are more an item for the luxury models rather than sports. Instead there were little M badges hidden all over the car, I kind of prefer them anyway. 

M badge

One of the most surprising things about the car for me, was how much Mrs 3ofdiamonds liked it. She was with me on the test drive and I genuinely think if I don't buy it she'll be trying to herself...

I was going to talk about potential mods I would do if I got the car at this point, but think I've wittered on for long enough, so maybe that's another entry?...

If you would like to laugh at my lack of progress in real time you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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Abarth Exhaustion

In today's entry: Abarth Exhaustion... 

Monza Exhaust on the SuperSport

When I did the review of my daily driver, the Abarth SuperSport, a few weeks back I mentioned that although it only had a little 1.4l engine, it sounded mean and angry beyond its cc. So this week I decided that it was time to do that video! This may have also had something to do with damp and slippery roads combined with 90mph winds again at the weekend preventing that 0-60 video I want to do on the GTO... (wind speed may be a slight exaggeration but it was damn windy).

Digital Boost Gauge (apologies for glare)

I took this video on my phone with it propped up on a box whilst I revved. Lets be honest, this is not an ideal set-up, far from it actually... It may be how ITV film Emmerdale, but it was never going to give the sound this car makes the justice it deserves. 

In the flesh this exhaust does sound so much more beastly, especially with its Sport mode engaged even in its current stock guise. The engine and exhaust combination Abarth put on these cars (and the 595 equivalents) from the factory really make the noise generated from that 1.4 tjet engine second to none against other stock engines of a similar cc out there. 

Yes, that includes your Saxo, even with its 4" Halfords own exhaust tip you've tried to cable tie on... Wait... is that Burberry paint? 

Sport Mode - Engaged

The phone does not pick up on all the pops the exhaust makes as you ease off between revs, which is one of the traits that made me fall in love with the sound to begin with.... But alas, here is the video for now:

Although you can hear me start the car, the video was done on a warm engine. I had originally done a take with the phone sat further back and the wind noise wasn't the greatest, so this was a second take.

I have only been at this blog malarkey for 3-4 weeks now, so if I end up getting a better camera down the line I will probably re-do this video to try to show the car in the better light it deserves! If not, the phone footage will have to do.

I will probably do a similar video for the GTO, but with a bit of assistance in shooting it! I love this exhaust sound, but it will never realistically compete with that from a 3.0l twin-turbo with a racing exhaust system....

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Daily Drive

Ok, so I ended last weeks entry at the point of trading in my beloved Hawkeye WRX for a hothatch due to the birth of my son. (at this point I would like to note that the Mrs was happy to see the scooby go, as she saw it as an unneeded expense at the time, but was not impressed when the baby seat would not fit in the new car...) This week is talking through that daily driver. Those of you who have checked out my instagram will have already seen that this was for an Abarth Supersport.

When I bought this car it was from new, but at the end of its production run. A couple of weeks later I read an article about this car and how much of a unicorn it was. Apparently there were only ever around 850 Abarth Puntos brought to the UK, and of these only 138 were of the top spec Supersport version, the majority being either the Abarth Grand Punto, or the Abarth Punto Evo. Although I have seen social media peppered with them from time to time, in my area I only know of 1 other Abarth Punto, and thats an Evo.

I love the fact that a lot of people, especially non-car people, don't really know what they are. I have lost track of how many times I've been asked what an Abarth is, and when people finally click, say "so thats like a fast fiat 500, right?" as if Abarth only do 500s and nothing else..... Don't get me wrong, I like the 500 models, I went to the showroom intending to buy a 595 Competizione, but walked away happily with my Supersport instead, its more me, and I like the fact you don't see them as often as the 500 based models.

So what I have is a car which I love, and although its nippy its the slowest car I've ever had. It has a 1.4l t-jet engine which has around 180bhp, which although it isn't much pushes the car to 60 somewhere in the region of 6.5 - 7 seconds. Which given how small the engine is, isn't actually that bad.

Abarth Supersport engine bay.

In fact when I was looking into this car, I read many a reviews and most compared the car to 1 of 3 cars. The Golf GTI, the Civic Type R and the Focus ST. All of the reviewed said the same thing, the car was a great little car but couldn't compete with those 3 of hot hatches on performance. But the Abarth has a smaller engine, and cost significantly SIGNIFICANTLY less. The other 3 cars will all cost you in the region of £30k, maybe just under. More if you want a decent spec. My little gem was under £20k. This means it was being compared against the big guns, when it cost less than the smaller hot hatches on the market, still coming in a few quid shy (couple of g's in fact) of the cost of a Fiesta ST and Corsa VXR with similar performance, and has the same 0-60 as the PUG GTI but costs around £7-8k less!

With Abarth you also get lots of goodies as standard. In fact the parts list on the Abarth would do as a shopping list for the GTO... Each corner sees a set of Brembo's coupled with Koni suspension. The seats are Buckets by Corsa (not the Vauxhall kind...). The dials were designed by Jaeger. The exhaust sound is mean for a 1.4 thanks to a system by Monza coupled with an uprated airbox thanks to BMC (I'll have to post a video of it on a later entry). Not a bad list for a car which is still stock....

I have mentioned the GTO has pop up headlights, a button on the car that makes me a bit giddy. The Abarth has a go faster button, and I've always wanted one of them since I was a kid, lusting after an M3 purely because it had the M button... I've come to realise BMW's are not for me, I indicate and don't tailgate, however the go faster button is still right up my street!

I love talking about the car, I love explaining what an Abarth is to non-car people. I love explaining the bolt-on's that come stock to car people. I do love this car, but I miss the tear your face off acceleration. I miss having power whenever I want it, this car needs you to be in sport mode and in the right rev range or the turbo lag will see you accelerate from 30-60 at the pace of a Dacia Sandero. I miss having AWD and as I mentioned last week, that is what ultimately made me want a project car.....

In the mean time, if you want to keep up to date, follow me on social sites in the links, also more pictures below:

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Alloy + Brembo

Corsa Seats

Having a bath

Dat Ass!